Artificial tooth.



H. W. REYNOLDS.

ARTIFICIAL TQTH| APPLICATION FILED IIILY 214.19m.

Patented Mar, 4,1919.

IIII III. II

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@lf/roth m UN n sin` i anni ARTIFICIAL TOOTH.

' Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Mar. 4, 1919.

Application led July 22, 1918. Serial No. 246,065.

To all whom t may concern.'

Be it known that I, HUGH W. REYNOLDS, a citizen of the United States, residing at Kendallville, in the county of Noble and State of Indiana,.have invented new and useful Improvements in Artificial Teeth, of which the following is a specification.

lThis invention relates to artificial teeth, particularly to that type formed of porcelain and provided with a backing, and has for its object the provision of a tooth formed principally of porcelain and having a backing formed in two sections, one section being of thin sheet gold having a relatively hard reinforced edge to be disposed at the biting edge of the tooth and the other section being formed of some suitable alloy and firmly secured to the thin sheet of gold and both sections being rigidly secured to the porcelain portion of the tooth, the reinforcing member being covered by gold solder.

An important object is the provision of a tooth of this character in which the alloyl section of the backing does not entirely cover the back of the gold section whereby a margin of soft gold will be left exposed at the edges of the tooth which may be burnished around the edges of the tooth as a facing when it is necessary to grind away a part of the tooth.

A further object is the provision of a tooth of this character in which the alloy section or reinforcement will not be visible when the tooth is completed.

Another object is the provision of a tooth of this character provided with peculiar means whereby the alloy reinforcement and the gold backing may be secured to each other and to the porcelain portion of the tooth.

An additional object is the provision of a tooth of this character which will be simple and inexpensive in manufacture, highly etlicient in use, durable in service and a general improvement of the art.

With the above and other objects and advantages in view, the invention consists in the details of construction to be hereinafter more fully described and claimed and illustrated in the accompanying drawings in which:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of the porcelain portion of the tooth.

Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the gold backing.

Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the reinforcement.

Fig. 4 is a perspective view of the completed tooth.

Fig. 5 is a longitudinal sectional view therethrough and Fig. 6 is a cross sectional view therethrough.

Referring more particularly to the drawing the numeral 10 designates the main or porcelain portion of the tooth which is of the well known type of construction and which is provided with a substantially central cylindrical bore 11 having communicating therewith a longitudinally extending recess 12 having a width less than the diameter of the bore 11.

The backing proper is designated by the numeral 13'and comprises 'a very thin sheet of gold of any desired purity having its lower edge thickened as shown at 14 by the addition of a strip of harder gold soldered or brazed thereto. The upper portion of the sheet 13 has formed therein a longitudinally extending slot 15 adapted to register with the recess 12 when the sheet 13 is applied against the rear face of the tooth 10. The reason for having the portion 14 of the teeth 13 thicker and of harder gold than the remainder of the teeth is to provide a wear resisting material at the biting edge of the tooth so that injury to the backing will not result from mastication.

The reinforcing member is designated by the numeral 16 and comprises a sheet of any suitable alloy, the sheet being bent intermediate its ends as shown at 17 to provide a projecting tongue 18 terminating in a head 19 substantially cylindrical in cross section and of a size to be disposed within the bore 11 in the porcelain portion 10 of the tooth.

The different elements of the tooth'are assembled as follows. The reinforcing member 16 is disposed upon the backing member 13 with its tongue 18 disposed within the slot 15 and its lower edge bearing upon the top of the thickened portion 14. These parts are then soldered or brazed together, holes 20 being provided in the reinforcing member 16 to facilitate this operation. The solder 21 is iowed entirely over and covers the reinforcement. It will be noted that the side edges of the reinforcing member 16 terminate short of the side edges of the backing member 13 whereby there l upon the tooth. After the .parts are thus assembled, they are dressed down by grinding or any other suitable means so as to have the proper contour for forming a tooth.

From the foregoing description and a study of the drawing it will be apparent that I have thus provided an artificial tooth formed of porcelain and providedV with a backing of gold and a reinforcement of suitable alloy whereby the porcelain portion will be effectively braced and strengthened so as to withstand the strain imposed upon the tooth during mastication, that the reinforcing member will be entirely concealed from View and protected from the action of saliva, and that the backing member has its lower edge formed as a wear resisting member. The provision of the projecting edges of the thin gold sheet is important as it facilitates soldering the artificial tooth to another similar tooth or to an abutment crown.

It will of course be understood that I reserve the right to make such changes in the.

stricted recess communicating therewith and extending to the rear face nof the body, an overhang formed at the lower end of the bore, a backing plate disposed against and entirely covering the rear face of said body and provided with arslot extending to its upper edge and registering with said recess, a thickened portion formed on the lower end of said backing plate and defining a shoulder, a reinforcing plate disposed against said backing plate and terminating in abutting engagement with the shoulder thereon, a tongue projecting from said reinforcing plate and passing through said slot and said recess, and an enlarged tapered head yon the end of said tongue engaged within said bore, said4 head being of greater length than said tongue whereby to engage within said 'overhang. Y

In testimony whereof I aiiix my signature.

HUGH W. REYNOLDS.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for ve cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C. 

